The Glastonbury council seeks $1.5 million to stabilize the slope on which a $2 million boathouse sits.

GLASTONBURY — The town council voted unanimously Tuesday to ask the board of finance for $1.5 million to pay for installing rocks along 200 to 300 feet of the bank of the Connecticut River to head off erosion and protect the Riverfront Park boathouse.

The board is scheduled to review the request, which seeks to take the money from the town's $25 million general fund, at its June 17 meeting.

The council plans a public hearing on the appropriation on June 23, at 8 p.m., before taking a final vote.

If the council approves, a contractor would begin to install small- and medium-size rocks known as riprap shortly after July 1. Town Manager Richard J. Johnson said the firm has been selected and is "ready to go."

The work, which would take 60 to 65 days, is designed to prevent additional movement in the slope on which the $2 million boathouse is built.

"They will need two weeks to mobilize," Johnson said of the maritime firm that would do the work. "All our geotechnical experts agree time is of the essence to get this completed by the end of August."

Shortly after the park was completed, officials noted vertical and horizontal movement in the concrete terrace west of the boathouse and in the serpentine handicapped-access ramp leading from the park to the river.

Johnson said several more events are scheduled at the boathouse before activity will be shut down to allow the work to be done. The project involves barges bringing 9,600 tons, equal to 400 truckloads, of material up the river and then lining 200 to 300 feet of the bank with riprap, extending 50 feet into the river. The material will remain underwater and won't be visible, he said.

Johnson said the safety of the boathouse isn't an issue and is monitored weekly by the town.

"The thought was to continue all monitoring of movement was the prudent way to go," Johnson said. "As long as we are doing that and monitoring any and all movement, we should be OK. If we want to err way on the side of caution, we could cancel all remaining events."

Johnson said that because of ongoing negotiations, he couldn't give an update on legal efforts by the town attorney, who is working with the counsel for insurance carriers representing contractors who worked on the $12 million park project.

"I am hopeful we will be recovering a substantial portion of the costs," Councilman Lawrence J. Byar said.